The nations of Islam have a very troubled, complicated past. Things wouldn't have got so bad if not for the heavy, sustained interference from outside nations, and the parade of corrupt elites they put in charge.

These long-standing issues have severely aggravated and warped the Muslim aspirations toward secularism and modernity to fundamentalist interpretations of religion, along with regression to monarchy and militant gangsterism.

Make no mistake. It didn't all occur by accident or through a natural interpretation of Islam. In other times, especially before the post WW2 decolonization period, visiting a Muslim society would have been quite interesting and far less dangerous. In modern, pre-WW2 times, there was no such thing as large-scale bad blood between them and the West; nor any religious gangsterism across entire countries, with plans to bomb multiple cities. There was nothing like we'd call modern terrorism for that matter.

Unfortunately for the Muslims, they sit upon territories which have come to be of vital strategic importance, smack dab in the middle of the world. And the powerful interests preoccupied with these territories and markets have not let up since. Last of all, they have done their darnedest to stop or arrest the 'coming together' of an Muslim civilization which would have agendas and resources uncontrolled by the West.

The bitter apples of discord have been rained on the Middle East and Northern Africa for decades. I think the West covertly controls a portion of the most violent, religious, divisive products of this rainfall, using them against both common Muslims and common Western citizens.

I've been a fan of Ahmed's writing ever since I got his first book way back in 2003. His new essay here is basically formed from the 'mother lode' of best news reports explaining how NATO and Gulf States support the Islamic State and why. If you need a concise summary of the crisis, here it is.

The deep state governments of France, as well as those of the USA, UK, Turkey, and others are playing a very dangerous game. They're simultaneously fighting the Syrian gov and by extension its allies (Iran, Russia), and they're fighting the common people of the West via deception, terrorism, and suspension of liberties. It's quite a piece of theater. Not entertaining in any way, mind you. Rather awful is a better term.

NATO was designed to deter the USSR and its Warsaw Pact satellites almost 70 years ago. There might have been some shots fired 60 years ago, but since then, I don't know of a time when either side took a serious kill shot at the other's warplanes.

Today, both sides claim they were in the right. Both sides claim they were operating legally on their respective sides of the Turk-Syrian border. Both sides are presenting proof that the other violated sovereign airspace. On their way down, the Russian pilots safely parachuted from their burning plane. Local Muslim militias either shot the pilots out of the sky or executed them after they reached the ground.

Putin spoke with the King of Jordan today in Sochi, Russia, accepting the King's condolences and going into detail about today's shoot down. I'm watching this in between typing. The Kremlin is going to retaliate in some way -- I bet using a surprising, indirect strategy.